From the perspective of a first/second year apartment dweller/commuter living with a girl he met in the days leading up to first semester, first year:
- Don't schedule anything before 11AM. You will stay up late, because having a life demands it (indeed, sometimes GOING TO CLASS demands it - watch out for those night classes that run from 6-12). If you NEED to schedule something before 11AM, make sure it's not on a Monday, or a Friday, or after a night class of ANY caliber. If you NEED to schedule something like that, make sure it's a class you can miss. Every. Time. I did it with Economics. I passed with a C.
- Don't fear allnighters. But abuse your body properly, the allnighter should be spent on social commitments, not on studying. You'll be too ineffective to study, but still have all the mental faculties neccessary to drive someone to the airport, bang a chick, whatever.
- If they want you to call them by their first name, call them by their first name. I have professors named Larry, Dierdre, Bill, Samir and Suzanne. They all have perfectly normal last names. It's just a personal preference thing (actually, it seems to be a departmental preference thing, there's only one of them that doesn't). Then there's Orsay. His last name is completely and totally unpronounceable. If you're in a situation like that, don't be afraid to scope out their first name and try it. Of course, I have yet another professor whose first AND last names are completely bogus collections of characters. So YMMV.
- Make sure they're actually a professor before calling them a professor. TA's aren't professors (they're TA's). Certain adjunct faculty members aren't professors (they're teachers or instructors, just like high school).
- TA's rarely have any teaching skillz whatsoever. They're graduate students in the program that they're teaching (usually), but are TA'ing either because it's a requirement, or to make money. They've never taken an education class. Thereby, you will find that high school teachers were better at getting ideas and concepts across.
- If you have an imagination, a reasonable knowledge of fun sh!t to do in the area and in neighboring cities (here's a hint - stop at the rest stops on the highway and grab a copy of *EVERY* brochure they have - there will be HUNDREDS of them, and then distill that down to 10 or 15 really cool ones. repeat at the end of each season) and a car big enough for 5 people comfortably, the willingness to pull it out of long term parking every week or two, you instantly become REALLY, REALLY, REALLY cool. Anyone can stay on/near campus and drink. Most people do. You'd be surprised how much college students enjoy an evening at the halloween theme park, or snow-tubing up at the ski resort (avoid full scale sports that require skill) or all-night bowling.
- If you're short on employment, don't neglect boring crap such as computer lab monitor.
- Cash is bad. Never more than $20, all in singles, so you can tip people when you go out to eat/get something delivered.
- Be honest. Don't tell tall tales. People will accept you for who you really are, perhaps for the first, and last, time in your life.
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